


My Virtues Uncounted

by YouAreMyHappilyEverAfter



Series: Here I Am And I Stand So Tall [2]
Category: Life Is Strange (Video Game), Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Gen, Non-Consensual Kissing, Post-Canon, Steven is not the one time traveling, Teens with Powers, Time Travel, pink steven
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-20
Updated: 2020-07-20
Packaged: 2021-03-04 23:48:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,135
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25404895
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/YouAreMyHappilyEverAfter/pseuds/YouAreMyHappilyEverAfter
Summary: Still on his road trip to discover more of the world outside of Beach City and saving the universe, Steven comes across a peaceful town by the name of Arcadia Bay. While he was getting used to seeing some weird stuff that rivaled even his childhood, he hadn’t quite been expecting time travel. Then again, at least this Max person seems pretty friendly.
Relationships: Connie Maheswaran/Steven Universe, Maxine "Max" Caulfield/Chloe Price
Series: Here I Am And I Stand So Tall [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1767889
Comments: 2
Kudos: 37





	My Virtues Uncounted

**Author's Note:**

> Steven is on a road trip finding other kids and teens like him across the world, and a few different universes in this series. Each piece can be read as a standalone, but should be read as part of the series in the bigger picture. ~Kas

Steven pulled to a slow stop in front of the hotel he had heard good things about before slipping out to stretch and look around where he had ended up. Arcadia Bay was  _ definitely  _ a beautiful place, and Steven knew that Connie and Mabel would love seeing pictures of it. In fact, before he headed in, he stood on the side of the road and took pictures. The water was so pretty. It reminded him of the ocean back home.

Securing a room inside, he brought his things in, texting the pictures to everyone he thought might appreciate them. He also immediately started going through the brochure he had picked up at the front desk. It didn’t seem like Arcadia Bay was really a  _ tourist  _ spot, but they had some amazing old buildings and lighthouses to look at, and some beautiful woods to go hike in. And this place definitely didn't give off the same kind of vibes as Gravity Falls. Although it definitely had some kind of vibes. However, even though it was only sunset, driving all day had him pooped.

When Steven woke up the next morning, he was itching and ready to go. This place seemed so great, and it was on the waterfront! He loved that fresh ocean breeze. Stars, he'd missed that. Right. He would probably grab a quick bite to eat, head down to the beach for a while, and then check out that diner that had been mentioned in the brochure. Whale something?

Steven decided to not even take his car, instead enjoying the walk down to the beach. It was really nice. A slight breeze was coming in off the ocean, too. Made him glad, though, cause it was a bit warm. It was definitely a different ocean than the one he was used to, but it still felt just familiar enough that he could close his eyes and relax at the quiet that surrounded him.

When the quiet finally started to eat at him more than it was relaxing him, he knew it was time to head back into town. Get a nice brunch. Yeah. He could focus on that much. It actually wasn’t too hard to find the diner, but he paused when he heard a laugh from just around the corner that felt… odd. 

Peeking his head around the corner, he saw an aged woman looking up at him with a warm, amused smile, “You’re a long way from home, aren’t you?”

He felt a note of surprise thud gently in his heart, but he smiled at her, scratching aimlessly at the back of his head. "Gee, is it that easy to tell?"

“Only to those like me,” the woman laughed, the sound warm and… old? It felt odd. “You smell of a different ocean than the one here.”

"Oh." Jeez, he didn't think that different oceans smelled different, but he was kinda willing to take her word for it. "Yeah, I'm from Beach City over in Delmarva."

This time the woman just smiled at him, an indulgent, far-away look in her eyes, “I was there once, a long time ago.”

"Yeah, it's really nice over there, especially this time of year." He wondered how Little Homeschool was doing. And the Boardwalk. Connie said summer vacation was coming up soon, the Boardwalk would get a lot more foot traffic.

“Yet here you are, far away.” Well… He supposed that was one way to put it. “Or perhaps it’d be more accurate to say here you are,  _ looking. _ ”

"Uh…" Huh. "Yeah, I guess you could say that. I can't just stay home all my life. I need to find somewhere I want to settle down, eventually." 

“Mm… I’ve seen those eyes plenty of times before. Searching for a place you belong to, or… maybe not so in your case. Searching for a place to settle, you said. You young people, always in that rush to settle down in life.”

"Yeah, I guess," he huffed with a chuckle. "Part of it might stem from a lack of stability when I was growing up, so I'm using this as a way to take control and try to put down roots? I dunno. We're still working through it," Steven told her. This woman was… different, but different didn't always have to mean bad.

There was a  _ vibe  _ there, but nothing that felt dangerous or scary or bad. Just… a vibe. “You remind me of these two girls that live here. Troublemakers, they are, but they’re working through something similar themselves. I think you’d like them if you met.”

He smiled, giving a nod. "They sound nice. I'll have to keep my eye out. I'm sorry, I didn't introduce myself. I'm Steven."

“A good name. I have so many myself, I’m not sure which ones belong to me anymore!” The laugh was wild and free, but soft and rough all at the same time. “A young thing like you doesn’t need to know this old bird’s names, but… It’s nice to meet you, Steven.”

Even though he was confused, Steven smiled at her before looking down as he dug in his pocket. "I don't want to offend you, but you look like you could use some help." He was already pulling his wallet out-

And she was gone. There had been no sound or feeling of her running away, she was simply gone, blankets still on the ground and looking as if she had only just left to check on something else.

"Woah," Steven said quietly, looking around the small alley. No sign of her in sight. Okay… That was a little spooky. Slowly, he backed out before finally turning and entering the diner like he'd intended. He was immediately soothed because everything smelled  _ great,  _ and it was just a normal, simple diner with nothing weird going on. It was definitely more normal than whatever  _ that  _ conversation had been about.

Seeing an empty seat at the dinner, he grinned and sat himself down. Man, diners like these had some of the best food. And they were just the cutest! He might have to order something to go and call Connie so Lion could take it over to her.

“Well hello there, cutie, haven’t seen you here before.” A tired, but smiling waitress was setting a menu down in front of him. “Passing by?”

"Something like that," he told her, looking down at the menu. "What's good?" 

“Depends on what you’re in the mood for, but the pie? That’s never the bad choice. Apple being my personal favorite, of course, but we also have a recommendation list that everyone, and I do mean everyone, ignores.” The waitress pointed out the recommendation list with a laugh and a smile.

People he met were just always so gosh darn  _ nice. _ "Thanks," he said with a nod. "My parents would probably not be all that happy if I had pie for breakfast, though." Hey, they had waffles! Hm. That gave him an idea. "This might be a weird question."

“Well, you’re in luck because I have a couple crazy kids. Trust me, whatever your question is I’m sure I’ve heard weirder.”

"What are the chances a guy can get some waffles with syrup, whipped cream, a strawberry, and popcorn on top?"

“Popcorn, huh?” The waitress thought about it, finally giving a chuckle. “You know what? I think I can manage that - and trust me, I’ve still heard weirder.”

Steven laughed with her. “Thanks. It’s… kind of a family tradition.”

“Then I’ll be sure to make it extra good for you,” she winked. “Anything else while I get that started for you?”

“Just a glass of milk, if you can?”

“Coming right up, sugar.” Yeah. This place was great already- Was he being stared at? He  _ felt _ like he was being stared at at least.

Hm… Steven pretended to stretch, turning in his seat and looking out the window and oh yeah. Back booth corner, two girls were  _ totally _ staring at him. And he felt like it wasn’t the good kind of staring, either. 

Then again, it didn’t exactly feel like  _ bad  _ staring. It felt- Actually. It felt exactly like when Dipper had tried to eavesdrop on him and Connie the first time. Jeez. Was he cursed? Did he just look suspicious when he went into a diner? He looked down at himself with a frown. He didn’t  _ think _ he looked suspicious. Was wearing a pink jacket with a shirt and jeans and his sandals suspicious?

When she gave him his glass of milk, Steven thanked her quietly, watching as she walked out from behind the counter… and right over to them. Did she know them? Hm, well… There was nothing  _ wrong  _ about practicing that super hearing thing gems could do, right? “ _ Max. Chloe, _ ” she said, that same kind of tone Pearl got sometimes. “What on Earth are you two trying to get yourselves into this time?”

“What- Nothing!” The girl with bright blue hair crossed her arms, slouching down in her seat. “We can’t just sit and watch the new people that come in?”

“Not with that look on your face, miss thing. You two are always finding new ways to get yourselves into trouble, aren’t you?”

Steven felt…  _ something. _ He wasn’t quite sure what, and it had him staring down at his glass of milk in confusion. “You’re right Joyce, we’re sorry. It’s really rude to stare.” ...What? 

“That’s what I thought,” Joyce said, Steven frowning because his glass was full but he had just taken a sip, hadn’t he? “Now you two leave that poor boy alone. Chloe? Listen to Max.” He… Okay. Something was up. Steven gave a small shake of his head. Maybe he got too much sleep, and was still in dreamland, or something.

“Suck-up Max, back at it again.” There was a laugh from their table, and, okay, that one girl was Max and the blue-haired one was Chloe or something. 

“I’m sorry, would you rather rewind so you can end up back in the dog house?”

“I mean…” ‘Chloe’ huffed. “ _ No, _ but that doesn’t mean I have to  _ like it. _ ” Rewind? What the heck was that supposed to mean. “Still trips me out that you just… can rewind whenever and I can never tell.”

“But I always make sure to tell you what happened.” Steven chanced a glance back to see Max smiling. “Like this time when you pushed it and Joyce threatened to chain you to the tree outside.”

Threatened…  _ what? _ Before Steven could hear anymore, he was startled out of his concentration by a plate clattering softly in front of him. He looked up to see his meal being placed down in front of him, and he smiled at her. “Thanks… It’s perfect.”

“I’m glad you think so,” the waitress - Joyce - smiled at him softly. “You take your time, honey, you can stay as long as you want.”

“Thanks,” he said again, unable to help it as he wiped at an eye. He dug his phone out, taking a picture of the wonderful plate, and sent it to Pearl, Amethyst, and his Dad. ‘ _ Thinking of you guys. _ ’ 

This trip was good for him. It was a trip he needed, but… it wasn’t like he couldn’t miss Beach City while he explored new places. Besides, not everything had to change in his life all at once, right? The first bite was like  _ heaven, _ and it was like, for just a second, Steven was flashed back to all those happier times from when he was fourteen. Going on his first mission with the gems, fusing with Connie, wrestling with Amethyst… It was like he was a kid again in the best way.

Everything was changing, yeah, but he still had this, didn’t he? He still had his memories of all the good times in his past, and he still had his family and friends keeping in contact, and he had little moments like these. That was all he could ask for. Steven was especially grateful when the woman — Joyce? — filled his cup for him without a word about his crying. He knew he cried a lot, he didn’t need everyone to tell him about it.

It was during his last few bites that he realized he had stopped focusing on the girls who had been staring at him and, well, it wouldn’t hurt to listen just for a few seconds, right? Make sure they weren’t talking about him. “-cries over  _ waffles? _ ” Oh. Nope, they were still definitely talking about him.

“Don’t know. Maybe he was just remembering something really awful?” Well, he was remembering  _ something,  _ just not something  _ awful. _

The girl slammed her hands on the table, causing Steven to flinch. It was fine, it was cool, everything was fine. “ _ Max! _ ” She was still trying to whisper. “Why don’t you go ask  _ him _ about what you saw, then just rewind?!”

“Oh- Yeah. I could do that, could’t I? Uh, okay, but just because this is kind of weird, you know?” Max leaned back, looking down at what seemed to be her watch. “Yeah. Okay.” Steven felt that weird feeling again, and wasn’t he just facing the other way? “Okay. Done,” she said, in her seat and… Hadn’t she been…?

“C’mon, Max, spill the deets!” But… Something wasn’t right, here. Once was weird, but twice? 

“Okay, so, he’s homesick, he’s road tripping, and there’s popcorn on his waffles which is an old family recipe.” Okay, what the  _ fuck? _ He never told her… But she’d been standing  _ right there _ , but she never moved, but… Troublemakers. That was what that old woman outside had said. Two girls. And here were two girls, who were ‘always finding trouble,’ who were  _ fucking with his head.  _

Alright. That was it. Being curious about him, yeah, fine. Being weirded out by him? Sure! Happened all the time!  _ Fucking with his head?  _ Oh, no. No, no, no, he wasn’t letting that one go. “Uh, Max,” Chloe muttered. “You sure you rewinded properly?”

“What? Of course I did. I rewinded — rewound? — just like I always do. Why?” Rewind. She knew stuff about him, stuff that she could have only found out from him, and rewind… time? 

“Because he’s looking a lot more angry than he did a couple seconds ago and is looking towards us.” Finally looking back at his plate, a couple soggy bites of waffle left floating in the syrup flood, Steven set his jaw and picked up his glass of milk before walking over to their booth and sitting himself down across from ‘Max.’

“You never asked me my name.” The girls went still and silent, Chloe the first one to recover with a scowl.

“Um,  _ excuse you,  _ far as I know we’ve never even fucking  _ talked  _ and you’re just gonna come over here and-”

“No,  _ you _ didn’t,” he said, still staring at the smaller girl. “What  _ exactly _ is a rewind?”

The girls both went sheet white, Max swallowing and working her throat before meeting his gaze carefully, “A rewind? I mean, rewinding music, or-?”

“No, no, I was thinking a lot more like you getting up and asking me shit, then rewinding time like it never happened.” Huh. So they could look even more scared.

“What?” Max burst out into ‘giggles,’ avoiding looking at him. “C’mon, man, be serious. I mean, rewinding time? That’s impossible.” Glancing down to his hand, Steven internally cursed. He was losing control again. He took a deep breath.  _ Breathe, _ Steven. You control it, it doesn’t control you. Rather than saying anything, he looked up at her again. Steven wasn’t sure what did it, but Max wasn’t smiling anymore. “You… really could tell.”

“Yeah,” he bit out. “Not a fan.” He had gone through enough without dealing with time travel fucking his head up, too.

“I- Hang on. How did you know the word rewind? I never said that word to you when we talked.”

“No, you only said it about a million times while you were sitting over here.” He glanced between the two of them. “Why exactly are you so interested in me.”

“Eavesdropper,” Chloe muttered, crossing her arms and scoffing under her breath.

Max, for her part, only stared at him. “You were talking to the homeless lady outside. People don’t usually talk to her.”

Steven drew back at that, frowning. “What?  _ That _ was enough for you to think you needed to spy on me?”

“That was  _ way  _ more than enough! She-!” Max cut herself off, taking a breath before Chloe was leaning across the table and tangling their hands together. “She’s… different. If you could feel me rewind then you had to have known that she’s…  _ different. _ ” Well… Yeah, Steven  _ had _ picked up on it. Stars above, the twins’ uncle was right. Weird  _ did _ attract weird, he thought to himself as he leaned back, crossing his arms.

The three of them were all quiet for a moment, Max clearing her throat, “Uh, sorry, about the whole… yeah. If it helps all I did was ask you why you were here and why you were crying- And said that popcorn on waffles is pretty cool.”

“Yeah, I figured out that much when you immediately said it right after.” Looking between the two of them again, he finally huffed, “Steven.”

“I’m Max and that’s Chloe,” Max said after a moment. “I’d say it’s nice to meet you, and all, but pretty sure you still want to punch us or something.”

He couldn’t help but to roll his eyes and smirk. “I’m  _ pretty _ sure if I punched you, you’d end up in the hospital. I don’t do that kind of thing to humans.”

“Humans?” The girls asked together before sharing a look. “So, uh, you’re…  _ not  _ human, then? I mean, I kinda figured from the whole time thing and the pink thing.”

“I’m only half. I’m half-alien from my mom’s side.” Alright. The looks he got were pretty funny. 

“You know what?” Chloe looked to Max. “I’ve seen just enough weird shit that I’m willing to believe that one.”

Max looked to him suspiciously, but also looking amused. “What species of alien are you, then?”

“Half, thank you very much. I’m half Gem.”

“Half Gem? What is that, short for something or like some codename or-”

“Nope. Just Gem.”

“How are you all doing over here?” Joyce was back and checking on them, looking between the three of them. “Should I be worrying any over here?”

Steven smiled at her. “Doing just fine, ma’am, thanks. We worked it out, big miscommunication thing. They thought they’d seen me around before.”

“That explains the snooping,” Joyce laughed, sliding Steven a new glass of milk. “Anything else you need, honey?”

“No, thank you. I’m all good here.” He saw the girls out of the corner of his eyes looking at each other. Meh, he wasn’t too worried about it.

“Alright, well, you take some time and let me know if you change your mind and I’ll get your check for you.”

As soon as she was gone, Chloe laughed, “Damn, I didn’t think anyone could fool her with a goody-two-shoes routine.”

He rose an eyebrow at her. “It’s… not a routine.” Steven couldn’t help laughing. “The whole tough guy thing is the ‘routine.’”

“Wha-  _ Seriously? _ ” Chloe shook her head. “Dude, it looked like you were about to  _ kill us  _ when you came over here. I was about to have Max rewind so we could run.”

“You also saw me crying over  _ popcorn waffles, _ ” he pointed out to them.

They were quiet for a moment, Max giving a giggle, “You know, Chloe, he’s got a point, there.”

“Okay, right,” Chloe said, looking him over. “Note to self, don’t piss  _ you _ off.”

“It’s a good note to take.” 

“For this being a routine, you’re scarily good at it,” Max said, sitting up and finally letting go of Chloe’s hand. “So, you plan on sticking around for a while?”

Steven gave her a shrug. “I’m just road tripping around and decided to stop here for a few days. I live in Beach City, over in Delmarva, so this kind of place really reminds me of home.” He leaned forward a bit. “You seriously  _ rewound time? _ ”

“Yeah, it’s- It’s a really long story,” Max said, looking to Chloe for a moment. “It’s hard to explain, but yeah… I can rewind time. Only for a few minutes at a time max, though.”

“Dude. That’s  _ pretty wicked. _ And I can do some killer stuff with my powers.”

“Powers? So you can do more than just the whole pink thing?”

“You know,” Chloe grinned. “I think this calls for a trip to the junkyard.”

Okay… He could either go with them and figure out more weird stuff about more weird people, or he could abandon it all and leave it behind… The answer was obvious.

☆

“Welcome, Steven, to mine and Max’s kingdom!” The junkyard they reached was large and sprawling, with broken down cars, a bus, train tracks cutting through the center of it, and a small shed that looked to have been painted at one point before being given up on.

“Huh,” he said, hands in his pockets as he looked around. “Looks like Amethyst’s room.” Except less purple, but that was about the only difference. 

“I think I’d like to meet this Amethyst,” Chloe laughed, moving to pull herself up onto the hood of a car that was only half there. “So, what else you got, Alien boy?” Looking around, Steven started to climb up a pretty sweet looking boat.

“Eh. Not much. Just some powers, y’know. The works.” This height would probably work well enough.

“Dude, powers are powers! And what’s  _ the works  _ supposed to mean!”

He stepped one leg off the boat. Eh, he’d probably estimate ten? Maybe fifteen feet? He saw them looking at him, obviously worried before he stepped off the boat completely. “I think Pearl calls it Gravitational Descent Regulation?”

There was a shout of his name, Steven only casually floating down to hover over the ground, Chloe bursting into loud laughter, “Dude! You can fucking fly?!”

“Yeah, kind of,” he said with a shrug of one shoulder-  _ What the fuck?! _ Steven instinctually brought a shield up to protect himself against the… glass bottle that had been thrown at him?

“Chloe! We talked about  _ throwing glass bottles  _ at people-!”

“Yeah but look! He made a fucking  _ magic shield! _ ”

“Because you  _ threw a glass bottle at me! _ What the heck kind of a person does that?!” 

“I knew you’d be fine! Or, hey, if you weren’t, Max could rewind and stop me. Probably. She’s my impulse control, you know.” Oh. Oh, god. It was Lars and Sadie only  _ worse. _

“Oh stars above,” he sighed, letting his shield fade away. 

“Sorry about her,” Max said, digging in her bag and walking over to Chloe. Steven then got to watch as Max pulled a spray bottle of water and spritzed Chloe with it. “I’m still training her.” Chloe near  _ screamed _ with laughter, causing Steven to grin. Okay, well… At least they seemed like they really cared about each other. That was something that could be said of them.

As they two fought over the spray bottle and chased each other, Steven took another look around the junkyard, pausing at seeing what looked like some sort of memorial with a heap of flowers. He wondered what that was about. Walking over, he shoved his hands back in his pocket, looking down at it. ‘Rachel Dawn Amber. In our hearts forever.’ Aw, jeez… Well, it was nice that whoever she was, she was well remembered.

Oh, man, some of those flowers weren’t looking too good. Steven bent down and licked his finger, brushing it against a few of them. “Hey! What the fuck are you doing to… Rachel…” Chloe and Max were staring at him and the flowers, eyes wide. “Dude, you can fucking control plants, too?”

“Oh, uh, sorry,” he said, rising and looking back down again. They looked better, at least. “Magic healing spit.”

“That’s a new one,” Max said, expression softening as she looked at the flowers. “Thanks.”

“Yeah,” he nodded. He wasn’t a stranger to those lost, after all. 

“So, you got flight and healing and shields. What else?” Chloe grinned, already looking excited again.

Steven grimaced. “Not much else. I mean, we call it ‘Pink mode,’ but the last time I really went into it, I ended up turning into a fifty-foot-tall monster, and the time before that I shattered another gem.”

“Alright, tone back there on the wild stories.” Ah, well, at least that meant he didn’t have to explain a bunch of things. “Hm… You know, with your powers and Max’s combined, we could  _ really- _ ”

“Do something that wouldn’t involve us getting in trouble with the police - or David.”

He rose an eyebrow, looking between the two of them. “Something like what?”

“Don’t know yet, but we’re gonna find out,” Chloe grinned. “Onwards, Max! We have shit to fuck up!”

Okay… She  _ totally _ seemed the type. “I haven’t even told you the best part.”

“The best part? What’s the best part?”

He smirked at her. “I’m friends with Sadie Killer.”

“Max, I just made a new best friend, I’m sorry, but you’ve been replaced.”

“Oh no. However will I go on?” Max didn’t seem too broken up about it, all things considered.

Somehow Steven ended up following them to the campus where Max went to school and studied photography, Steven looking around curiously and it actually looked like a pretty good school. “This is really nice,” he told them, looking at a few boards with nice pictures on them. “I’ve never been to a school.”

“Oh, so you were homeschool or something?” Chloe asked. “Sounds like hell, if you ask me.”

“I would’ve liked going to school, probably. Stability and stuff, y’know.” 

“Maybe,” Chloe shrugged. “I dunno, I prefer being able to do my own thing whenever I want, I guess.”

“I guess when it’s ‘whatever you want’ for fourteen years, it gets tiring. My girlfriend is actually looking at college. She’s still a…” Shit, what did she call it? “A… junior? Is that it?” 

“Damn, you really don’t know much about high school stuff,” Chloe snorted. “Third year of high school is junior. Is she about sixteen or so?”

“Yeah,” he said with a nod. “No, most of what I know, I know from her, or from Sadie and Lars. Connie’s really great, though. She’s looking at a career in politics.”

“That sounds cool,” Max said, looking at him. “So, Connie, she’s your girlfriend and going into… politics.”

“Yeah. She’s human. She’s a year and a quarter younger than me,” he said with a small laugh. “She’s really great. She’s still got a couple years in school right now, but she’s so far ahead, cause she’s, like,  _ super _ smart. And Pearl trained her how to use a sword, so she’s like, the strawberry jam to my biscuit.”

The two stared at him, Chloe finally shaking her head, “Dude, you’re  _ stupid  _ in love with her, aren’t you?”

Steven couldn’t help a laugh. “Yeah. I kind of am.”

“Aw, that’s sweet,” Max said the same moment Chloe made a face, and, yeah. Nice to know there was a Lars all the way out here, too.

He grinned at her, already grabbing his phone- “You wanna see a picture?”

“Oh, uh, sure, yeah, alright.” Max shuffled closer while Chloe just groaned. That was fine. Steven still had one person to show off to.

“She sent me this yesterday, this is her with my companion Lion,” he told her, grinning. Max stared at the photo before waving Chloe over, who peeked at the photo and then stared at Steven.

“What the shit. Did you grow up in  _ Narnia  _ or something?”

Steven grinned, taking his phone back. “He was my mom’s.” 

“Dude. That’s awesome.”

“Hey, Chloe,” Max said suddenly. “David, two o’ clock.”

“Shit. If he asks I had to use the bathroom.” With that, Chloe was  _ running  _ off, Steven blinking because that… was a reaction.

“Oookay,” Steven said just as a man came walking up to them.

“Max. What’s her excuse this time?”

“Bathroom,” Max said dutifully. “And I think I’m legally obligated to say that whatever you have to blame on her it wasn’t her fault and she has an alibi. Although, it probably  _ was  _ her fault.”

Though the man was looking at  _ him, _ now. He seemed suspicious? “Don’t think I’ve seen you around before, soldier.”

Steven blinked a bit before standing up a bit taller, sticking his hand out. “Steven Universe, sir.” 

“He’s a new friend we found at the diner,” Max explained, the man giving him a firm handshake. “Steven, this is David, Chloe’s stepdad.”

“I assume you’re in charge of security here, sir?”

David looked surprised for a moment before nodding, “I am. The girls tell you that, then?”

Steven shook his head. “No, sir. You just remind me of my girlfriend’s dad back home. He works security, as well.” 

“Sounds like a good man,” David nodded, looking at Steven before seeming to relax. “Nice to meet you.”

“Likewise,” he said with a smile, looking to Max. “Should we… go find her, or something?”

“Nah, she’ll crop up eventually somewhere. That’s just Chloe.”

Steven shrugged. “I mean, sure. I’m not fussed.”

“Oh, yeah, hey, I can show you the photo lab.”

“Oh, yeah, that sounds cool,” he said with a grin.

“Great. C’mon, it’s this way. Shouldn’t take long to get there and I think you might like it. You seem the type.”

He rose an eyebrow, looking down at himself. “Uh… Thank you?”

“It’s a compliment,” Max laughed, shaking her head. “Chloe will probably look for us there first, anyways. She knows how I am.”

“Aw, that’s cute,” he laughed. They really seemed to care about each other, that was so sweet. Max seemed embarrassed, but she also seemed happy just  _ talking  _ about Chloe. It was nice.

It wasn’t long before they were in the ‘dark room’ as Max explained it, showing off a bunch of developing photos which was  _ really neat. _ “Woah,” Steven said quietly, looking at them with a grin. “This is so awesome.”

“See? Knew you’d like it,” Max laughed, pulling him over to another corner. “Here, here’s the stuff I’ve been working on.”

Steven looked at the pictures. "Woah, these are really cool shots! How do you do it?"

“Some old school photography. You’ve never heard of polaroids or anything?”

"I think my dad's talked about them? I never really used a camera myself until I had one in my pocket everyday." He took out his phone, smiling at her.

“Most people are like that,” Max laughed, looking around the room and frowning. “You know what? I’m gonna go check on Chloe.”

"That's fine, I'll stay here. This stuff is pretty cool." He put his phone away, looking back at the pictures.

“Yeah, sure. Just tell anyone that I let you in here if they ask.” With that Max was slipping out the door, careful to not let any light in.

Steven walked over, looking at a few more pictures. Gosh, those were some nice landscapes. Hearing the door, he started to turn. "That didn't take long-" Huh. Not them. "Uh, hi there." 

“Oh… hi.” The girl standing in the doorway stared at him, slowly smiling. “Are you new here?”

"Me? Nah. I'm just passing through town right now."

“That so?” The girl walked forward, looking at some of the photos before stopping right in frotn of him. “And yet you came right here to our humble little dark room.”

He gave a half-grin. This was… strange. She felt… He didn't have a name for what she felt like. "Yeah, Max was just showing me."

“Max, huh? She didn’t tell me she had a new friend she was showing around campus!” The tone seemed pleasant enough… Maybe she was friends with Max?

"Uh… Yeah. We just met earlier. I'm Steven."

“Well hi there, Steven.” Definitely something weird. “I’m Victoria. You here for long?”

"No, not for long, really. I'm touring the states." Victoria. He had a feeling he needed to remember that name.

“A shame. I have a feeling I could show you around some pretty fun places while you’re here. You seem the type to like a good party or two.”

Steven shrugged nonchalantly. "I dunno, I'm not much of a party person, these days. I prefer just relaxing on the beach, or something."

“Sounds like that could be fun, too,” Victoria near  _ purred,  _ and, okay, she was holding his jacket now with both hands. “How long you here for again?”

"Just… not long," he said, trying to take a step back. Why wasn't she letting go? 

“Make sure to stick around a few days, then,” Victoria said softly, leaning  _ closer  _ and seriously, why was she so  _ close-  _ “I think we could have a lot of…  _ fun. _ ” With that she was surging up and  _ kissing him- _

Steven felt disgust  _ claw at his chest and what was she doing?! _ He pushed her away from him with superhuman strength, " _ Get off of me! _ "

Victoria went stumbling back as the door burst open, Max coming in with Chloe right behind her, “Steven? We heard you yell- Ah. Okay. Not good.”

Steven turned to stare at them- Oh. Oh no, it was happening again. He looked down at himself and he was  _ pink and it was happening again- _

Before he even really realized what happened, Steven was locking himself in a bathroom, shaking. That… He…  _ She-  _ She had just  _ kissed him  _ out of  _ nowhere. _ That wasn’t- He couldn’t-  _ Why had she done that. _ He didn't- Was that- He didn't understand. He didn't  _ want that. _ He wanted  _ nothing to do with that _ but she still  _ did that. _ It still happened.

Steven wasn’t really aware of what he was doing before he found himself fumbling with his phone and calling his dad’s number, the phone already ringing. “ _ Steven? What’s up, kiddo! How are you doing? _ ”

"Dad? Something bad happened," he said, wrapping an arm around himself as tears threatened to spill and he hadn't  _ wanted that.  _

“ _ Steven? What happened? Can you tell me what’s wrong? _ ”

"I- I was looking at these pictures, and- And this girl came in, and- And she started talking to me." Small spots of dark blue were forming on Steven's jeans now. "She- I- I thought she was  _ nice _ but then she- She- She  _ kissed _ me."

“ _ She what?! _ ” Greg was yelling, and sounding like he was walking around. “ _ Do you need me to come over there? I can get a flight in a couple of hours- Are you alright? What do you need, Steven, talk to me, buddy. _ ”

"I- I pushed her away, but… But I went Pink again. At a  _ human, _ Dad. I could've… She…" He could’ve done so much damage. 

“ _ Could have, right? That means you didn’t hurt her and you just distanced yourself to think and call for help, right, Steven? _ ”

"I don't- I don't  _ think _ so. I pushed her off of me… Then I just ran out. She  _ kissed _ me."

“ _ Aw, kiddo… I wish that hadn’t happened to you, but we can’t change the past, _ ” Greg said softly, Steven almost picturing him right beside him. “ _ What do you need, Schtu-ball? Do you need one of us there? _ ”

It was tempting. It was  _ so tempting _ because he  _ so wanted _ to hug his Dad, for his Dad to tell him that he'd be okay. But he… He just needed space away from them. "I think I need to call Connie."

“ _ Then how about I hang up, you call Connie, and then you can call me back later. That sound good? _ ”

Steven started to nod, trying his best to take a few deep breaths to calm himself down. "Okay." Before he could call her though, there was a knock at the door that had Steven jumping out of his skin.

“Steven?” It was a male voice that sounded somewhat familiar. “It’s David, head of security and Chloe’s stepdad. Max told me what happened, do you need me to call anyone?”

Standing, still shaking a bit, Steven walked over and opened the door, wiping at his face. "No." David stared down at him, finally giving a nod.

“Do you want me to call the police?”

Steven stared with wide eyes. "The-  _ The police? _ "

“Yes, the police, because you were  _ assaulted. _ ”

"N- No, I really don't- We don't need to do anything like that."

“If you’re sure,” David said after a long moment. “If you change your mind, though, let me know.”

David led him out of the bathroom, and though he glanced at Chloe and Max, Steven stepped away to dial Connie’s number. “Connie?”

Connie was picking up at once, greeting Steven with a cheerful, “ _ Hey, Steven! How’s the trip going? See anywhere else cool? _ ”

“Hey, uh, Connie? Do you remember when Kevin danced with us at that party?”

" _ Oh, uh, yeah, of course. But… what brought that question up? Are you alright?" _

“I was looking at these pictures, and there was this girl, and…” Steven swallowed, lowering his voice. “She kissed me.”

“ _ She… kissed you. Like kissed kissed you? What am I saying, of course she did if you sound so freaked- Do you need me to come over? Nevermind. Tell me where you are. Me and Lion are coming. _ ”

Steven had half a thought to tell her no, that he was fine, he didn't need her to drop everything, but… wasn't that why he'd called her? So she could be there? "I'm… over in Cascadia. In Arcadia Bay."

“ _ We’ll be right there. Do you know what building you’re at or something like that? _ ”

“Er…” He turned to look at them. “Where’s a place that doesn’t have a ton of people?”

“Junkyard?” Chloe half-asked, Max shaking her head. 

“There’s a spot on the beach that’s usually pretty empty, I think. Especially this time of year.”

Steven nodded. “We’ll be on the beach, Connie.”

“ _ We’ll be there soon, Steven. _ ”

Once she hung up, he looked over to Chloe and Max again. Chloe had her arms crossed and Max was looking worried, “How you doing?”

“I… She didn’t even ask if I wanted to, or ask if I had a girlfriend, or-”

“That’s Victoria for you,” Chloe scoffed. “A raging bitch.”

He stared at her, following after them a bit absently as they started to walk. “She’s always like that? People are  _ like that? _ ”

“You grew up in a pretty sheltered place, didn’t you?” He… guessed he had.

“I mean… I guess? I mean, when Connie and me fused this one time, there was a guy that kept trying to get us to dance, even after we said no… Or… I guess, like Pearl kept lying and breaking the comm tower to get Garnet to fuse with her.”

“Uh… fuse?” Chloe asked, raising an eyebrow. “Sorry, might be an alien term there, but what’s fuse mean?”

“It’s… really hard to explain.” Steven took his phone out as they walked. “Here, I might actually have a video. So, me and Connie. Right. Two separate people. We fuse, and when we fuse, we become Stevonnie.” 

“So does fusion mean sex or…? Cause it kinda sounds like something sex related-”

“No,” Steven said firmly, shaking his head. “ _ Nothing _ like that. It’s…” He sighed, struggling to find the words. “It really  _ is _ an alien thing, there’s not really a  _ good _ human equivalent. It’s like if you take the bond you have with someone, whether it’s good  _ or _ bad, and made that experience a person.”

“Okay,” Max said after a moment. “I  _ think  _ I get it, but, uh, show us that video, please?”

Finally managing to find one of the videos of him and Connie at one of Sour Cream’s parties, he handed the phone over to them. The two of them bundled together and watched the video, both quiet before Chloe said a soft, “Damn. That’s something, isn’t it?”

“Yeah,” he said quietly, smiling. “It’s not something that the gems can do with humans. I can only do it with other humans because I’m  _ half _ human.”

“That both makes sense and also doesn’t-  _ What the hell?! _ ” Ah, Lion and Connie were there. Connie was already leaping off Lion, looking ready to draw her sword.

“Where is she?! Where is this girl?!”

“Connie, hey,” he said, smiling at her and holding his hands out. “It’s fine.” He barely finished before Connie was in his arms and latched on tight.

“This is  _ not  _ fine, but I’m so proud of you for calling someone to help you through this, but also I’m going to  _ maim her. _ ”

“Don’t worry,” Chloe snorted with a huff. “Her highness is gonna need to get daddy to pay for a new nose.”

Steven paused, turning to her. “Wait-  _ What? _ ”

“Chloe punched her,” Max said, giving a shrug. “I don’t think anything was broken, but I didn’t feel very inclined to rewind and stop it.”

Connie frowned, pulling away enough to look at the two of them. “Steven. Who’s this.”

“This is Chloe and Max. Don’t worry, they’re cool. Seriously. Max can rewind time.”

Connie blinked, looking to Steven and then back at the girls. “I’m willing to believe in a lot of things, Steven, but I have to draw the line at time travel.” She twisted back to address the girls, “ _ Don’t  _ use whatever you can do to prove me wrong. I don’t think I can handle it today.”

“Yeah, don’t worry. Freaked us out when Max used it to snoop on your little boytoy and he actually  _ knew. _ Came storming over to us like he was about to put us six feet under.”

Steven frowned, rubbing at his arm. “I wasn’t…  _ that _ bad…”

“Don’t worry, I think it’s good to stand up for yourself,” Connie said, patting at his cheek before frowning at him and tugging him down. “Hey. You okay?”

“I’m…” He sighed, leaning back against her. “No, not really.”

“What do you think will help right now?” Connie asked softly, wrapping back around him in a tight hug. Steven couldn’t help but to smile, wrapping his arms around her waist.

“You.”

“You have me for a long, long time,” Connie laughed softly, arms tight around him and hand soft in his hair as they both breathed out the same soft sigh.

Stevonnie hugged themself, smiling. “I’m here.”

“Whaaat the  _ fuck, _ ” Chloe whispered softly, her and Max staring at them. “So that’s legit fusion, huh?”

“That’s legit fusion,” Stevonnie said with a grin, feeling much more comfortable in their own skin. Like they were washing away what had been done to Steven.

“No offense, since I’m a freakish time traveller and everything, but that’s kind of freaky.”

“This is wild,” Chloe muttered, scratching at the back of her head. “How do you… Like- How do you even handle this?”

They laughed, “Don’t worry, it was hard for  _ me _ to get, the first time. Have you ever gone from not existing to suddenly existing? Garnet explained it really well, though. I’m not two people, and I’m not one person. I’m an embodiment of the relationship between Steven and Connie, taken form in fusion, for better  _ or _ worse.”

“Yeah, okay, I get the not existing and then suddenly existing thing,” Chloe waved off, “But are you like… both crammed in there or it’s just one person there? Hang on, no, you answered that. I’m kinda freaking out here.”

They laughed, hugging themself again and spinning before they fell back to lay in the sand. “I could stay like this all the time.”

“I mean, you’re definitely hot and human enough to get away with it,” Chloe said, plopping down on the sand before Max did the same.

“Steven and Connie still both have their own separate lives to live, though. And that’s alright.”

“Makes sense,” Max nodded. “You both still have a lot to do before you want to really settle down, right?”

Stevonnie laughed. “Yeah, something like that.” It was nice, cause as Stevonnie, it was like Connie would be able to remember what she’d missed on Steven’s road- Oh no.

The two of them were quickly sitting up, Steven staring at Connie. Connie blinked, rubbing her eyes before she narrowed them. “ _ Victoria,  _ huh?”

“Now- Connie, I know what you’re thinking, but you really shouldn’t make any rash decisions here-”

“You’re right, Steven.” Connie leaned back, placing her hands together and sighing out softly. “Okay, thinking it over, I’m going to give her another punch  _ straight to the gut. _ ”

“Wha-  _ Connie! _ You’re not gonna just go punch another human!”

“Why not!  _ I’m  _ human and she  _ hurt you! _ ”

Steven placed his hand on top of hers. “Because you’re better than that.” Connie stared at him, finally groaning as she collapsed in his lap.

“That’s not fair.”

“Don’t take it too hard,” Max told them. “Victoria always has been and always will be a bitch. She tried to sleep with our teacher to win a contest.”

Steven’s eyes widened. “Wait. Wait, people actually  _ do _ that? I thought that was just a tv thing!”

“Nope. She actually tried to do that,” Max shook her head. “Victoria is… She’s Victoria. She’s a bitch.”

“Stars above,” he said, shaking his head. He didn’t think people like that were  _ real. _

Connie shuddered. “She seriously said all that, though?”

“Yeah. She seriously said all that.”

“Are you sure I can’t at least threaten her,” Connie mumbled, tugging Steven over before wrapping back around him. “I’m sorry you had to go through that, Steven.”

“Thanks, Connie.” Steven paused, looking at Chloe and Max. “You guys ever been to Gravity Falls, in Oregon?”

“Maybe when I was like five or something,” Chloe shrugged. “Why? It’s some dumpy little tourist trap, isn’t it?”

“There’s a  _ lot _ more to it than that,” he chuckled. “You guys would dig it. Weird attracts weird, y’know.”

“Hey, I wouldn’t say we were  _ weird- _ ”

Chloe cut Max off, giving a snort, “No, no, I’d say weird.”

This already felt so much better.

☆

Before Steven knew it Connie had gone home with Lion and Chloe and Max were leading him back to Chloe’s house where he was, apparently, going to spend the night. "You know, I do have a place I'm staying for the couple days I'm in town," he tried to tell them.

“Stay there tomorrow. Tonight you’re staying here with us,” Chloe laughed, dragging him inside the house. Steven grumbled, though he didn't put up much of a fight. Jeez, the gems seriously weren't lying, he could make friends anywhere out of anyone. “Hey, mom! We’re home with a friend!”

"A friend? Chloe, besides Max, you haven't  _ got _ friends." Holy crap. That was kinda harsh, wasn't it?

“Ha, ha,” Chloe rolled her eyes, heading for what looked like the kitchen. “How long you’ve been waiting to bust out that one?”

"Who's this friend of yours, then? Is this a Max-approved friend?" Ah, so Max was the good influence there.

“Fully Max-approved,” Max laughed, nudging Steven towards the kitchen. “You actually kind of know him.”

Steven stepped closer, giving his half-smile. "Uh, hi again." Joyce startled, looking surprised. 

“Well hello there… I see you three became  _ fast  _ friends.”

"Yeah, it's a talent of mine," he snorted. "My family kinda teases me about it." 

“He’s staying the night,” Chloe told her. “We’re his moral support.”

Steven saw her frown, crossing her arms. "Chloe, I'm not sure how comfortable I am with a strange — if very gentlemanly — boy spending the night-"

“I fully agree,” David called out, sounding like he was in the living room or somewhere. “He should stay the night.”

"See? Step-ass has the right idea."

That really surprised her, and she looked at Chloe, then to whenever he was. Then to Chloe again. "Are you two  _ agreeing? _ "

“We can agree sometimes,” Chloe shrugged, Steven hearing a snort from what he thought was David.

“Trust me, Joyce, it’ll be fine.”

Joyce huffed. "I don't think I much like you two teaming up against me.  _ Fine, _ then, the boy can stay." Oh, great, he was the boy.

“Thanks, Joyce,” Max said, giving her a hug and lowering her voice. “He could really use some friends right now.” Aw… Aw jeez. That was- That was a little embarrassing, but it was really sweet. “Steven, stop crying.”

“Or at least cry about something besides Max being  _ Max, _ ” Chloe laughed, throwing an arm over Steven’s shoulder.

"Sorry," he said, wiping at his eyes and dammit, he  _ was _ a crybaby. "Sorry, I know."

“You’re fine- Here, help me steal some snacks.”

It wasn't long before they were holed away up in Chloe's room. It actually reminded him of his… It reminded him of  _ his dad's _ room back home. "It's nice."

“Hell yeah it is,” Chloe laughed, falling back to lay on her bed. “Max, put us on some decent tunes.”

"What are we feeling like tonight, party people?" Max looked through a few CDs, already looking much more relaxed than she had earlier. It was nice.

“Something rock, something good, and none of your hipster crap!”

Max laughed, finally picking out a disk. “Hey, I’ll bet Steven like ‘my hipster crap.’”

On his part, Steven only shrugged, piling a few chips into his mouth. “I’m into just about anything.”

“What kind of stuff do you normally listen to then when you’re just chilling?” Chloe asked, throwing a pillow at Max. “That better not be your music, Caulfield!”

Steven shrugged. “I’m really into Sadie’s stuff, new and old, and I tend to write some of my own stuff a lot, too. It mostly just depends on my mood.” His head bobbed to the beat of the drums of whatever song Max had put on. Yeah, he could get into this.

“You play?” Max asked curiously. “I mean, I assume you do if you write your own stuff.”

“Oh, yeah, I can play just about anything. Even some of the gem instruments, which, by the way? Those things are kinda freaky. Took me a while to really figure them out.”

“You play guitar?” Chloe asked, pointing to the guitar that was in the corner of the room. “Max plays, but she sucks at teaching.”

He glanced to the guitar, nodding. “Yeah, I play.”

“You should definitely play us something, then. Take your mind off shit!” Chloe leaned over and picked up the guitar-

Steven felt that weird feeling, and now Max was suddenly standing next to Chloe? “Don’t think about it.”

“What! I wasn’t gonna do anything except toss it to him!”

But… The guitar… But it broke? But it didn’t? Steven held his head. “ _ Fuck, _ this is giving me a damn headache.”

“Sorry,” Max winced. “But I’d rather you have a headache then me having to buy a new guitar.”

“Do you just reverse time to deal with shit like that? I mean, I would do the same, but  _ holy crap. _ ”

“I mean… I have a system,” Max said after a moment, taking the guitar from Chloe and handing it to Steven. “If it’s a big kind of change I’ll write it down, you know? And I try not to rewind too many times at once in a day or for anything longer than a few seconds.”

Steven took the guitar from her, setting it in his lap. “I mean, one of my moms can see the future, like different possible futures and stuff, but man. That is  _ nothing _ on this. This is something else. How do you even-” Steven paused, tilting his head, and… “Does your guys’ house creak, or something?” 

“It shouldn’t unless someone is stepping somewhere,” Chloe said, sitting up. “Why? Did you hear something?”

“Yeah, definitely heard something. Maybe you’re haunted,” he told them with a shrug, tuning the guitar.

“Nope.” Chloe shook her head. “I draw the line at ghosts being real. No thank you. Never gonna happen.”

“Fair enough. I haven’t seen one yet, either. I’m keeping myself open, though.”

“The last thing I want to deal with is ghosts,” Max sighed, collapsing on Chloe’s bed and laying her head on Chloe’s stomach. “I deal with enough just managing these powers.”

“Dude, I  _ hear you _ on that,” Steven snorted, listening to the song and strumming along. Just playing a guitar helped him relax more than anything.

“Yeah, speaking of… what was with that whole you turning pink thing?”

“Yeah…” He let his head fall back. “That was me starting to go ‘pink.’ I’ve been trying to get a handle on it, but it still slips out when I get really upset, or overwhelmed. Most of my powers, until I get better control over them, start out based on my emotions.”

“That sounds like it sucks,” Chloe snorted. “If I had powers that activated every time I got pissed then we’d be in a lot of trouble.”

“Yeah, I have a couple triggers that like, just immediately put me there. I’ve been trying to avoid them in normal everyday life, and confront them when I’m in a safe space. You know, shit like people around you dying. Me being blamed for everything my mom did before she had me. Me almost dying about a million times.”

There was a beat of silence, Steven glancing over to see the girls staring at him. “You know,” Chloe said. “The pink thing kind of looks cool.” Steven looked down at himself.  _ Shit. _ It’s fine, Steven, it’s fine, you’re  _ safe. _ You’re hanging out with some friends, it’s fine. “No worries, man, it takes ages for me to calm down once I get really pissed over something.”

“And sometimes you just need to be angry,” Max said quietly. “Ignoring it and shoving it away tends to make it worse, in my experience.”

“Yeah, I know,  _ I know, _ ” he groaned, falling back again. “Trust me.” 

“Yikes, how many times you hear that one?” Chloe asked, half-laughing. “If you want to break something feel free.”

He sighed, “I’ve been seeing someone about everything. It’s a lot.”

“Therapy? Right on. Supposed to be good for you and junk,” Chloe said, looking down at Max who was still lying on her stomach. “Did you just trap me?”

Max snickered. “Maybe just a little. To put a stop to your reign of torment.”

“Wha- Excuse you! If I had a reign of torment you  _ definitely  _ wouldn’t be able to stop it!”

Steven lifted his head to watch Max start to sit up. “Um,  _ excuse me? _ Do you know who you’re-”

“Yep!” Chloe tackled Max to the bed, fingers scrambling towards her sides before Max was bursting into laughter. He grinned, watching the two of them. Aw, they really did love each other, didn’t they? That was sweet.

“Chlo- _ Chloe! _ ”

“Suffer for your crimes, Maxine Caulfield!”

Laughing, Steven tilted his head at them. “ _ Maxine? _ ”

“I’m- Ha-  _ Ha!  _ I’m being  _ tortured  _ and that’s-  _ Chloe you’re killing me! _ ”

Finally, Steven walked over to them, picking one girl up in each hand. “Do I have to separate you two?”

“Whoa, dude,  _ holy shit  _ how the fuck are you oing that?!” Chloe looked startled and freaked, but Max only sighed in relief.

“My hero- Whoa, wait, you are  _ strong.  _ Is that an alien thing?”

“Yeah, mostly. Helps that I spent three days in the woods a few months ago doing nothing but training.”

The girls stared at him, Chloe finally shaking her head. “Dude. Your life is insane.”

Steven laughed, setting them down and sitting himself down. “Okay. So… She can time travel. What’s your thing?” 

“Nope!” Chloe spoke loudly, trying to cut Max off. “I don’t have a thing! And I never will!”

He rose an eyebrow, leaning back and looking her over. “ _ Really? _ ”

“Yes- What are you saying that like that for? I’m perfectly- Okay, maybe not  _ normal,  _ but I’m definitely human.”

“Oh, no, I don’t doubt that. I just know some pretty crazy humans,” he said with a grin. “I mean, you saw my girlfriend.  _ She’s _ human.”

Chloe went quiet, huffing before rolling her eyes. “Yeah, well, as far as I’ve noticed, there’s nothing power-like with me.”

Max was suspiciously quiet, though Steven finally dropped it, reaching over for more snacks. “What do you guys normally do for fun around here?”

“For fun? Rewrite the laws of time and nature, but Max gets pissy if we do that too much, so sitting up here and listening to music is a close second.”

He nodded along. “Not too bad. I go out to the boardwalk in town, back home. We’ve got a cute little theme park and stuff.”

“Yeah, we really don’t have a theme park here,” Max laughed, shifting on the bed before tackling Chloe and taking her down with her. “Revenge!”

Steven watched them- Phone? His phone was buzzing. Taking it out of his pocket, he frowned. Pearl. That could be good or bad. Answering it, he was immediately hit by, “ _ Steven are you okay?! _ ” Definitely bad.

He winced, standing and taking a few steps away. “Yeah, Pearl, I’m fine.” At least, he was definitely feeling better.

“ _ Greg told me. Did Connie come visit you? _ ”

“Yeah, she did, and I had to stop her from going on a rampage. Seriously, Pearl, it’s  _ fine. _ ”

“ _ It most certainly is not, but I know you can handle this problem yourself if that’s what you want. Also Connie tried to go on a rampage, hm? I’ll have to reward her later. _ ”

" _ Pearl! _ " Ugh, why was she  _ like this? _ "You shouldn't be rewarding Connie for trying to maim another human being!"

“ _ No, no, reward her for deflecting your thoughts on the situation and staying close to you until everything settled down. You know as well as I do that, sadly, Connie wouldn’t hurt someone like that. _ ”

"... Are we both talking about the same Connie?" Connie absolutely would do that if she thought someone hurt him. She tried to go up against the  _ Diamonds _ solo. 

“ _ Well… You were there to stop her, so I figured nothing too dangerous would come of it when I finally heard. Honestly, though, Steven… will you be okay? _ ” Not are you alright, but will you be  _ okay. _

He nodded. "Yeah. I will be. Promise." 

“ _ Then I suppose there’s nothing to worry about, is there? I love you, Steven. Take care and stay safe. _ ”

"I love you too. Give everyone else my love."

“ _ You know I will. Goodbye, Steven. _ ”

“Bye, Pearl.” Steven hung up the phone, sitting himself back down on the bed, and watching the two of them  _ bounce.  _ Chloe swore a bunch, but Max, at least, burst into laughter as she swore. Steven laughed with her, laying down on the bed. “This is pretty sweet.”

“Hell yeah my room is sweet! You could rule the whole world from inside here!” Chloe proclaimed while Max snorted under her breath.

“Why don’t you start with the town, first.”

And it was nice. Maybe it wasn’t forever-home nice, but Steven liked Arcadia Bay, and the people who lived there weren’t all bad, either.

He ended up spending almost a week there, hanging out with Chloe and Max and meeting other people around the area, talking to them about their own pasts as he told parts of his. It was nice. Like he was hanging with people like him who got it, but were still pretty normal.

“You’re gonna  _ have  _ to stop by again and visit us sometime,” Chloe said as they walked to the Dondai. “And bring that Connie girl of yours back. She’s hella awesome.”

“Yeah, I know. And I’ll definitely come out and visit. This place is alright,” he said with a grin. “But you never told me what was with that old woman.”

“Oh. She’s…” Max trailed off, seeming to fight with her words for a moment before shrugging. “It feels like something I shouldn’t really say, but she’s nice. I don’t know if she’s good or bad, but she’s definitely nice.”

He smiled at her, nodding. “Yeah, I could tell that much, at least. I kinda picked up the whole ‘thousands of years older than you with way more power’ thing. Not just me, right?” 

“Definitely not just you,” Max shook her head. “It’s nice when I see her every now and then, though. It reminds me to not linger on the past so much, you know?”

“Huh. Yeah, I guess that definitely is something to keep in mind.” Steven climbed into his car, rolling the window down. “Text me! I won’t respond if I’m on the road, though!”

“Yeah, yeah, go be a responsible driver,” Chloe shouted at him like that was an  _ insult, _ Max laughing as she held Chloe’s hand and smiled at Steven.

“I hope you find what you’re looking for, Steven.”

"Thanks, Max." Don't linger so much on the past… It wasn't that bad an idea.


End file.
